Honda Civic named North American Car of the Year; Volvo XC90 takes truck title

DETROIT -- The Honda Civic today was named the 2016 North American Car of the Year at the Detroit auto show, while the Volvo XC90 took home top truck honors.

Both models are repeat winners, with the Civic winning the best car award in 2006 and the XC90 winning Truck of the Year in 2003.

It was the third time since the awards were launched in 1993 that domestic automakers were shut out from the awards.

Honda swept the awards with the Civic and Ridgeline in 2006, while Land Rover and Hyundai won in 2012.

The winners were chosen by a jury of 53 automotive journalists from a group of three finalists in each category. A vehicle must be redesigned or substantially changed in order to be eligible for the award.

The Civic beat out the Chevrolet Malibu and Mazda MX-5 Miata. The Civic received 203 votes, edging out the Malibu’s 181 points and the MX-5 Miata’s 146 votes.

“It builds on everything the Civic has always been,” said American Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel. “It’s known for fuel economy, for safety, for durability. And we’ve amped all those things up with this vehicle.”

New ad campaign

Honda kicked off its ad campaign for the new Civic last week, and Mendel said the award will help bolster the company’s case to consumers.

“It’s extremely important and kind of billows our sales going forward,” Mendel said. “It’s a great luxury to have.”

The XC90, with 310 votes, beat out the Honda Pilot’s 111 votes and the Nissan Titan XD’s 109 votes.

“It makes us extremely proud,” said Lex Kerssemakers, Volvo Car USA CEO. “The XC90 reflects everything what is about to come in the next four years for Volvo Car Corp.”

Vindicates strategy

The XC90 was the first vehicle complete vehicle to emerge under the ownership of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. The company has invested $11 billion to produce a wide range of new products and platforms.

Kerssemakers said the award vindicates the company’s strategy.

“Once you start the development of a car, you realize that the owner has a very long-term vision to make Volvo successful. We realized that we will get the time to develop the cars that we would like to develop, which people expect from Volvo.”

Vehicles are judged on several categories including innovation, design, safety, handling, comfort and driver satisfaction.